Beware of personal tastes being exposed to public view

LOGGING on to Facebook the other day, I spotted an unexpected status update from a male colleague whose music taste I would usually respect. Bizarrely, he was freely admitting his guilty pleasure of listening to tracks by peppy pop diva Katy Perry. But why did he feel he had to openly declare this shocking revelation?

The reason – damage control. Because seconds earlier, Spotify had let the cat out of the bag – as, reactivating his account after some time away, he was told he had to log in via Facebook, unaware that his musical preferences – good and bad – would be broadcast to all of his friends and acquaintances.

Embarrassed, he decided the best way to deal with this would be to attempt to make a joke out of it. But it was too late – his musical credibility was lost.

Embracing the digital revolution where social networking is king – a growing number of online programmes including film rental, newspaper and music services, are now using Facebook as a login, allowing the user to “share content” with connections, often unwittingly.

“This trend is just frequently embarrassing,” said social media expert Kyle MacRae of Glasgow-based Blether Media. “I avoid it like the plague. However, you see it every day when you log on to your Facebook account and see what your friends are doing. Though I think in a lot of cases, people don’t realise what they are sharing.”

While many of these programmes have an opt out function, they are often hard to spot and a few bloopers can be made before the more reticent user gets to grips with the necessary privacy settings.

But the system is a marketing dream for both Facebook and the companies using it.

The social network insists that no commercial deals are made with organisations to use integrated Facebook logins – but the benefits are clear.

More than 30,000 “Open Graph” applications have launched to date – a platform which allows organisations to operate via Facebook – which has 901 million monthly users worldwide.

Growing social networking site Pinterest is one of the most popular services which has integrated with the site, along with Spotify and picture-sharing organisation Instagram.

“It is obvious for the companies using Facebook login – it’s a great way of getting their brand awareness out there and is a very clever and successful strategy,” added Mr McRae. “There is no question about why they do it. The problem is that while there are privacy controls for most of these services, as with anything on Facebook, the vast majority of people are not aware of them – or do not find them easy to get to.”

Meanwhile, over the past year, a number of national and international newspapers have launched apps which broadcast – again via Facebook’s news feed – what a user is reading. If a Facebook friend finds the story interesting, they are also taken to the app, where, to read the story, the second user also has to sign up using their Facebook account.

“This is probably one of the most annoying of the lot,” said Mr McRae. “Having to sign up to an app to read an article you’ve seen a friend is reading is a major obstacle – it’s putting another wall between the content and the user. Quite often, people will either go and google the story instead, which is a hassle, or just not bother.”

However, it is believed that Facebook is encouraging firms to move away from apps which force people to sign up – preferring instead to direct people to companies’s own sites.

“I think generally, the service is evolving and many organisations are tending more towards an integration with Facebook’s ‘Open Graph’ system, where it speaks to Facebook and then you get directed out to the website,” said Facebook spokesman Iain MacKenzie. “Then you have the option if you want of using the app, or not.”

Aimed at encouraging film lovers to share opinions and ideas, users of new US movie rental import Netflix are encouraged to log on with Facebook to get a free one-month trial.

“See what your Facebook friends are watching & Netflix will share what you watch and more with your friends,” the company advertises on its website.

Subsequently, without painstakingly checking Facebook privacy settings, every film watched is advertised to the viewer’s social network. Some people may be happy with this if their film of choice is a high brow European art house hit – but perhaps think their choice of viewing is less worth bragging about if their favourite way to relax in the evening is to crack open a bottle of rose and download a trashy chick flick.

“Obviously, I think anything that leads people to discover Facebook is great,“ added Mr MacKenzie. “Once they find it, by whatever means, they will discover something that they find useful and hopefully use it independently.

“The thing about all of these integrated apps is that they make Facebook a much more compelling place to be. That in turn, encourages people to spend more time there.”

Joris Evers, spokesman for Netflix, likened the system to visiting an independent bookshop. You might have a favourite bookseller who you’ve known for years and you walk in and say ‘I want something new to read’ and take his recommendations,” he said. “It’s the same on Netflix. You’re looking for something to watch and you might see that one of your friends has just watched an interesting documentary that you may never have heard of, but because they’ve seen it, you’re inspired to watch it.”

He added: “But if you’re having a binge on Gossip Girl or indulging in a Top Gear marathon and you don’t want your friends to see, you can opt out – it’s quite simple to do.”